Breakdown
by Jess.91
Summary: Piper was free. Piper was happy. And then it all came crashing down around her. Patty's no where to be found, and no one knows if they're dealing with magical demons ... or demons from the past ... Sequel to Breakaway.
1. Lost Without You

**Well, this is chapter 1 of Breakdown, sequel to Breakaway.**

**Chapter 1 - Lost Without You**

**Piper's POV.**

_In Breakaway: Piper was trapped in a violent relationship with Dan. She met Leo and left Dan, taking her daughter Patty and moving back into the manor, unlocking a big family secret as she did so. After a lot of struggle, Piper was finally free of Dan and she and Leo married, and went on to have Wyatt and Chris. Everything was happy in the Halliwell household when Piper dicovered she was expecting her forth child ... but she fell apart as she leaned her Patty was missing ..._

_Recap: ""But ... But ..." I fell back against Leo._

"Call the police." He said to Ms. Wilson, who disappeared from sight.

"Where is she Leo? Who took her?" I gasped.

"I - I don't know. Breath. We'll find her."

"Leo, my baby's out there all alone." I gasped. My knees gave way and he caught me. Out of the corner of my eyes I saw orbs, which formed to reveal my sisters, Andy and Cole.

"What's happened?" Prue said quickly.

"Some-some one's taken her. Someone's got her Prue. They've took my baby."

Ms. Wilson reappeared and I heard them all talking, but I couldn't focus, couldn't make out what they were saying.

I couldn't hear, couldn't see, couldn't breath. My baby's gone.**  
**

HANDING the officer another photo, I wiped away more tears. Prue and Andy were at the other side of the room, talking to more officers. I could hear Andy saying "Just find her. This is personal, this is priority." I was grateful, but nothing could take away the pain I was feeling.

"Sweetie, are you OK?" Phoebe asked me gently. I wiped away more tears.

"What a stupid question Phoebe, of course I'm not." I snapped. She looked hurt, but tried to hide it. "I'm sorry." I muttered.

"Don't be. I'm amazed at how your holding up." She told me.

"Have you _seen _anything?" I whispered. She shook her head.

"I touched everything, her toys, her bed, her clothes. Nothing." She told me.

"What about Paige and Cole?" I asked. The two of them were looking through the book - Cole's knowledge of demons made us hope he could find something.

"They're still going through the book." She told me.

"Keep trying." I whispered. "What about Andy? The police?"

"Nothing. They're treating this as abduction. Andy's pulling out all the stops."

"She's been missing for over four hours, Phoebe." I stated. Four hours of hell.

Leo wrapped his arms around me. "I can't ... I can't sense her." He whispered.

"Does that mean -?"

"No. She ... could be in the underworld, or cloaked from us, or just ... just too far away." He told me. "Don't give up."

"I ... I want to go upstairs." I said. "I have to think."

He didn't ask if I wanted to be alone, he didn't try to follow. He knew how I felt.

I sat on her bed, picked up her favourite teddy. Burying my face in the golden-brown fur, I let the tears fall. I wanted them all to go, all the police, I wanted to be alone, I wanted to try to find her my own way. But I couldn't with them all watching me.

I put the bear down, just looked at it. Sometimes she couldn't sleep without that bear. Sometimes, if I was at the club or demon hunting and she was in bed before I got home, she couldn't sleep without that bear. For so long we'd only had each other, we were close ...

And now she didn't have me. She didn't have her Hugsy. She was alone.

Someone was interviewing Dan right now, apparently, but they didn't think he had anything to do with it. How could he, locked away like that? We weren't sure if it was demonic - who would go through all the trouble of talking their way past the school when the could just come to the manor?

She was just five. She was a little girl. Barely more than a baby.

"Mummy?" I looked up hopefully, and tried not to look too disappointed when I saw it was Wyatt. For a moment there, grief had confused me ...

"Hi." I said quietly.

"Patty?" He said. He was two, too young to understand. And Chris ... well, at less than a year old, how could he?

"I don't know." I told him, and Wyatt took a few steps closer.

"Demon?"

I picked him up, hugged him tightly. "I really don't know." I told him tearfully. "But we will get her back."

I only wish I could believe it.

Leo came up after a while holding Chris. I looked up at him, tears spilling down my face, into Wyatt's hair.

"I ... can't be here." I whispered, pains throbbing in my chest, after several minutes in silence. "Not ... with her things ... without her." I put Wyatt down, picked up Hugsy and walked out. I heard Leo gently talking to the boys. I know it looks like I'm pushing him away, but I'm not.

I pulled the map and crystal out of the drawer in our bedroom. Paige and Cole were in the attic, I couldn't go there.

I spread the map over my bed, held the crystal over it, still clutching Hugsy.

The crystal swung, again and again. But it never landed. The map was of the entire world - Leo said she could be anywhere. If she was on the surface ...

I glanced at the clock, my arm aching, the crystal still swinging. I'd been sat like this for over an hour.

Tough. I had to find her.

I gave up after another hour and half, went to the top of the stairs, still clinging onto the bear.

A few police officers still lingered, even though it was getting dark. The boys were on the sofa, Leo was talking to Andy and Prue. Paige and Phoebe were talking quietly. I'm sure I heard my name.

I don't care. Cole's over there, which means the attic's empty. Good.

I walked in and put Hugsy on the table at the side, then lifted the book from it's stand. I sat at the table, and pulled the big mixing bowl towards me.

I flipped through the book, looking for ... anything. Anything to get her back. I stopped at a page, a spell I hadn't used before. I lit a fat white candle nearby, which cast shadows on the other wise dark attic.

"To Call a Lost Witch." I breathed. Patty's a witch, right? I got up and pulled down several jars and bottles for the shelf in the corner.

"Rosemary ..." I added a handful. "... cypress ... yarrow root ... Power of the witches' rise. Course unseen across the skies. Come to us, we call you near. Come to us and settle here ..." I picked up the atheme by my side, and pulled it across my hand. Blood glistened on the surface. I flet no pain. Only desperation. Several drops of blood fell into the bowl. "Blood to blood, I summon thee. Blood to blood, return to me." I finished. Nothing.

"Patricia Halliwell, blood of my blood, my daughter, come to me." I continued. "Blood to blood I summon thee, blood to blood return to me. Blood to blood, I summon thee, blood to blood -"

"Piper?" I flinched slightly at his voice, but I don't stop, I can't stop.

"Blood of my blood I summon thee, blood to blood -"

"Piper?" He was closer now, feet away from me.

"Blood to blood, return to me." I was sobbing now, but somehow I thought if I carried on chanting ... more blood ...

I picked the knife up again. He grabbed both my wrists, and gently squeezed my left until I dropped the atheme.

"It's OK." He said softly, sitting next to me, still holding my wrists. "It's OK."

"Where is she Leo?" I asked softly. "Where is she?"

"I don't know." He breathed. "But we'll get her back, I promise you." I looked up at him. "Piper I will move heaven and earth to get her back." He pulled me towards him and I buried my face in his chest.

All I could do was believe him.

* * *

There you go, the first chapter. Did you like it? Did it suck? Review! 


	2. Theories and Suspicions But Nothing

Chapter 2 - Theories and Suspicions ... But Nothing Else

I was stood in the doorway of her bedroom when he saw me. I was just outside it, not daring to go in, to walk on the floor like she had, to sit on her bed. Yesterday I had felt closer to her in here - today it terrifies me.

Strange. But true. Painfully true.

"Honey?" He said softly.

"Hey." I mumbled, not taking my eyes off of her bed. Was it only a night ago that she had laid on it, her long dark hair spread across the pillow, the eyelashes lighting resting on her pale cheeks?

"So, are you going in?" He asked casually. I shook my head. He didn't press me, just put his arms around me and held me.

"Why can't magic fix this?" I asked him softly. "I tried to - to get her back, and - and ... she's still not home.

"I know. I'm sorry. But magic can't ... it can't fix everything." He whispered.

"A whole night, Leo. She's been missing all night. That's bad, isn't it?" I didn't look at him. I couldn't. I knew I'd see a mixture of pity and pain in his eyes, and I can't ... I can't face it.

"Andy says there doing everything they can." He told me. "But yeah, it is bad."

I didn't cry. Maybe I cried myself out last night. We'd had stayed in they attic for a while, in his arms I felt safer. Then Prue had come upstairs. She'd told me there was no news. She'd had the pity/pain in her eyes, and I'd had to look away. Leo had spoken to her, but I don't know what he'd said. I hadn't been listening. Nope, I'd been crying, silently and thickly. Then we'd gone to bed, and I'd cried in his arms so more. Neither of us slept. Wyatt had wondered into our room at around eight o' clock, looking so scared and vulnerable. Leo had gotten up, and taken the boys downstairs.

Then I came here.

"Do you want to stay here?" He asked gently. I shook my head again.

"You wanna go downstairs?" I nodded, but made no attempt to move. I couldn't drag my eyes away from her bed, her toys and teddies still scattered across it.

Hugsy.

Hugsy's back, laid on her bed. I left him in the attic last night ... how ...?

"Did you -?"

"I thought it should be back there ... for when she gets home." He replied. I didn't want to say "If she comes home." I couldn't.

"Can we go downstairs?" I asked quietly, still not moving.

"Come on." He half-lead half-dragged me towards the stairs.

When we finally made it to the kitchen, everyone stopped talking and looked at me.

"Hi." I said, hating the awkward silence.

Next thing I knew, I was pulled into a hug by all three of my sisters at once. When they finally released me, a cup of herbal tea was pressed into one hand and a slice of toast in the other.

I _wanted _to scream "You think this'll fix it!" and throw the cup of the wall, but instead I sat down at the table and took a tiny bite of the toast. There was no point refusing to eat - Prue would force-feed me if she had to.

"Any - any news?" I asked Andy.

He shook his head. "There still looking, Piper." He assured me. "They wont stop until she's back home with you, where she belongs."

"Have - have you interviewed Dan?" I croaked. I felt the atmosphere in the room tension, but I didn't look away from Andy. His expression didn't change. Sober. Serious.

"Yes. He seemed as shocked as - as - as us." I think he was going to refer to Dan as her father. Good job he didn't. "And we've checked all his letters ... searched his cell ... there's no way he could have done. I mean, no _obvious _way."

I nodded and took another bite of toast without even thinking. I was hungry.

How could I feel hungry?

I shouldn't ...

"More toast?" Phoebe asked, holding out a plate. I shook my head. I can't eat ... Shouldn't I be unable to? To feel anything?

"Piper, you have to eat. Keep your strength up. You'll be no use to Patty without any energy." Prue told me. "Eat." I sipped the tea and reluctantly took another slice.

"So - so you don't think Dan did it?" I asked.

"Well ... no ... but -"

"So it was a demon." I stated. Wow, that toast disappeared fast.

"Not necessarily - it could be anything -" Andy said quickly, but I was already stood up, and walking out of the room.

"Piper - Piper where are you going?" Phoebe cried as they followed me.

"To find out what has my daughter." I replied.

* * *

"Where's my daughter?" I repeated, throwing another tiny crystal at the cage. The demon inside screamed in pain.

"I don't know!"

"See, I think you do, you must do, and I think I will get it out of you." I told him.

"I don't! Know one knows what happened to her!" The demon cried. I looked at him, unsure whether to believe him.

I put the crystals down and held my hands up.

"Do you have anything else you want to tell me?"

He remained silent and I flicked my fingers, blasting him into a million pieces.

"Piper?" Paige said carefully. "Are you OK?"

"No. He didn't seem to think it was magical." I said, confused. "So ..." I looked at Andy. "Maybe we step it up a bit." I walked past them and down the stairs.

I was certain my little torture session would turn up something ... but it just confused me even more.

_He must have been lying. Demons lie._

But it still hadn't brought her back.

I sat back on her bed. Hopefully, they wouldn't know I was here.

How could anyone hurt her? She was so young, so innocent.

"I can't do this, I need her back here." I whispered.

"Think, Piper." My mother's voice floated over me, but she was nowhere to be seen. "You know the answer, deep down."

So deep, I can't reach it.

And that wont help her.


	3. Mistaken

**By the way, a lot of you have asked if Piper is still pregnant. Yes, she is. Around three months gone.**

Chapter 3 - Mistaken

I watched the steam slowly float upwards ... higher and higher ... and then I looked back down as more steam unfurled.

"Are you going to drink that or just stare at it all day?" Phoebe trilled. I shrugged vaguely. I saw her look away. She couldn't be bothered with me. Not in this mood.

I don't blame her.

Eventually the steam stopped, and I stared at the cup instead. There's a little chip on the edge.

"We need new cups." I muttered.

"Huh?" Phoebe didn't sound interested and I didn't both answering. I instead I stood up. I don't want this stupid herbal tea. Peppermint. It tastes disgusting. Do they think this will help?

They don't know anything. What I'm going through. How I'm feeling.

Accidentally, I managed to knock the cup, and as it fell to the floor I threw out my hands to freeze it. Instead it exploded.

"Whoa!" Phoebe yelled and jumped back. "I thought you had control of that!"

I looked at the pieces on the floor and table, in mild surprise. I though I had control over it too.

"I do." I replied, knowing how stupid it sounded.

"The baby -?" Phoebe suggested, and I looked down. I can't face this right now, can't think about this ...

"What happened?" Prue asked, walking in.

"Piper blew it up." Phoebe said, in a would-be casual voice.

"Uh ... Piper why did you blow it up?" Prue asked in confusion.

I rolled my eyes in annoyance. Why are they treating me so weird?

"I was trying to freeze it." I admitted. "But - ah - this happened.

"Well ... our powers are tied to our emotions ... so I guess it makes sense for yours to be a little off since - uh - lately." Prue finished hastily.

"Andy just called." Paige said, running into the kitchen. She stopped, looking at us nervously. "They - they might have the guy who took her -"

"Orb, orb!" I yelled, running forwards. Paige, looking flustered, orbed us.

"Whoa - What are you doing!" Darryl jumped up and closed the door as Andy gave a small smile. Andy - who now lives with us, by the way, is pretty used to magic. Darryl found out a while ago and is still a little weird about it. He's the complete opposite of Andy, who wants to know everything - Darryl thinks the less he knows, the better.

"So? Who is it? Where is she?" I asked quickly, and Andy's smiled vanished. Darryl looked at me soberly, but obviously thought Andy should tell me, as he leaned against the wall and looked at him expectantly.

"It's ... it's not - she's not here." He sighed, looking up at me seriously. I opened my mouth, then closed it again, unsure what to say - or what he was saying.

"What? But -?" Paige looked at me in confusion. "You said -"

"I know, I know. And if it was anyone else I would have waited, to check it out ... now I know why." He sighed again. I looked at him in confusion, and he noticed, giving my a wry smile.

"Usually, with something like this, we'd wait before calling the parents." He explained. "But as soon as I found out I called you. I shouldn't have."

"So ... so ... what are you saying?" I asked slowly.

"We ... arrested a guy. A known ... well, lets just say he's known to us. A neighbour had heard screaming, and when our officers went down there they found a child's coat. A pink one." My blood ran cold. Patty's coat was pink ...

"Wh - was - I -" I stopped, upset and still confused.

"They brought him in, and I called you. But ... it wasn't her." Andy looked at Darryl at that point - I think Darryl might have been the one to question this guy.

Sure enough, Darryl cleared his throat a little bit, and looked at us.

"It belongs to his girlfriends niece." Darryl told us. "She went over there to collect it as the police were taking him away, and she's verified it's her daughter's. Plus, he has an alibi. He was working. We have the C.C.T.V. and witnesses."

I sank onto a chair, unsure to be happy that she wasn't with this - who knows what? - or to be upset because she still wasn't home.

"I'm sorry to get your hopes up like that." Andy sighed, as the door opened.

"Oh - I'm sorry -" The guy said quickly.

"No, it's OK Henry, we're almost done here." Andy waved his hand and "Henry" walked awkwardly over to the filling cabinet. He put a couple of files away then turned to look at us.

"This is Henry." Andy said. "He's a parole officer. Henry, these are Piper and Paige Halliwell."

"Halliwell? As in the kidnapping?" Henry said interestedly, then caught himself. "I mean - I - sorry." He mumbled.

"Yes, the kidnapping." Andy sighed. "There also my girlfriend's sisters.

"I'm so sorry." Henry said quickly. "I can't imagine what your going through right now - uh - Piper?"

"Yeah, that's me." I said quietly, waving my hand. "And uh - Thank you. But no, you can't imagine what I'm going through." I added.

"No." He said quietly. Paige grabbed my arm.

"Calm down." She warned me. Henry gave her a small smile, which Paige returned briefly before turning back to Andy.

"Do - do you have any other leads?" She asked hopefully.

"Well ... no ... but we're still looking. I'm sorry." He repeated. I nodded, then looked away.

"See you tonight." She muttered, and lead us out of the room, and into the hall. Checking it was empty, she grabbed my hand, then white lights appeared before my eyes, and we were home.

"Piper? Prue said -" Leo's voice hit me before the orbs had fully cleared away, and all of a sudden I wanted to cry. I collapsed into his arms.

"It wasn't her." I whispered. "It was a mistake - they arrested some - some one, they'd found a coat at his house. But it's not hers. He's -" I snorted a little. "Innocent."

"Oh, honey." He whispered.

"They'll find her, Piper." Prue said gently.

I nodded again, but I didn't believe her. Hope was fading.


	4. Faceless Villains and Sisters Dating

Chapter 4 - Faceless Villains and Sisters Dating

"Hi." Phoebe said quietly, walking towards the coffee pot.

Three days. Three days she's been gone.

"Hi." I murmured, taking another sip of my own coffee.

"Did ... you make this?" Phoebe asked suddenly, as Paige walked in.

"Um ... yeah." I replied.

"Piper! You're pregnant!" Phoebe cried. "You shouldn't be -"

"Phoebe!" I cried angrily. "I am allowed 'a maximum of three cups a day'." I quoted. "Patty has been missing for three days, I think I am entitled to a lousy cup of coffee!" I was shouting by now, and they both looked a little surprised.

"Ah - where's Prue?" Paige asked after several minutes of silence. Changing the subject. Which kind of disappointed me, for some reason wanted an argument, I wanted to focus my anger and frustration on something.

"She went to the station with Andy this morning. They're making lists of everyone we know. Apparently, it could be someone we know, someone we trust." Phoebe told me.

"How do you know?" Paige asked.

"I kinda heard them. You know, thin walls and all." Phoebe admitted.

"Ew. OK, Phoebe, I know when we were ... oh five and eight the whole listening in on our big sisters was fun, but now it's kinda creepy." Paige pointed out.

Phoebe stuck her tongue out. "Ha ha. No, I had a ... bad dream, and woke up." She admitted.

"What kind of dream?" I asked quickly.

"Nothing to do with Patty. At least, not directly.." She sighed. "No, it was just ... mum. And grams." She told us. Mum kept saying "She'll be back, I promise" and Grams told me we "couldn't do anything to stop it", to stop blaming ourselves. And ... and then Grams disappeared, really suddenly, like she didn't want to go, but something was - was making her, I guess. Then mum did the same."

I bit my lip. Phoebe was blaming herself?

"Are you?" I asked. She looked at me, and I realised my question didn't make sense. "Are you blaming yourself?" I asked, looking from her to Paige, who both looked at each other.

"Well ... of course we are." Paige said after a while. "We're her aunts, we're supposed to protect her."

"I sort of feel like I - I let her down." Phoebe admitted. "Like I didn't do enough to stop it, to save her."

I looked at them.

"I - I had no idea. I guess I didn't realise you felt the same."

"The same? As you?" Phoebe asked gently, I nodded, my eyes filling with tears.

"You might be her aunts, but I'm her mother. When we were with Dan, it was me and her, together. And them I ... moved on with it, had Wyatt and Chris and -" I placed a hand gingerly on my stomach. "And I ... did I push her out?" I asked quietly.

"What? No, of course not!" The both cried.

"Are you sure? I mean, maybe she just wondered out ..."

"Piper, you know someone took her." Paige said carefully. "She didn't want to go, she wants to come home."

I nodded.

"OK OK."

The next few moments happened quickly and confusingly. Phoebe touched my arm, gasped and closed her eyes, cried out, and reached for the edge of the table to steady herself.

"What? What did you see?" I asked quickly, as Paige asked if she was OK. I cursed myself for being selfish, and looked up at her.

"A - a demon. He threw a fireball at me -" She gasped. "I didn't see his face." She muttered.

"What does that mean? Are we going to be attacked?" I asked, panicked.

"I - I don't know." Phoebe bit her lip, looking somehow familiar ...

"Pheebs? What are you hiding?" I asked, as it hit me what she reminded me off. Herself, when she was younger, the "I've got a secret that might upset you/make you mad" look.

"I - I -" She looked at me awkwardly. Patty. This has something to do with Patty.

"I know there's something wrong." I warned. "Did you - did you see who has her? Where she is?"

"It's nothing. I just ... had this feeling it has something to do with Patty." She admitted.

"I'll check the book." Paige said, standing up. We all jumped as the phone rang.

"If it's Prue tell her to get back here -" I said, as Paige picked it up.

"Hello?" She said quickly. "Who? Henry? Oh! Henry. Yeah, I kinda am - OK ... OK ... I can't right now." She looked annoyed. "Henry, my niece is missing. I'm not even thinking about dating right now." She snapped. "Yeah, you do that." She hung up, still looking annoyed, but ... disappointed?

"Who was that?" Phoebe asked in confusion. I looked at Paige. Henry? Why did that ring a bell?

"He's a parole officer, Piper and I met him at the station yesterday. He got the number from _Andy_." That means Andy's in trouble, by the way. "Wanted to know if I wanted to do lunch sometime. Can you believe it! Anyway, Phoebe, that demon? What did he look like?"

"I told you, I didn't see his face. I think he may have had a mask on or something?" She screwed her face up trying to remember, but shook her head after a few moments.

"Faceless demon. Got it." Paige turned and walked out of the room.

"I'll call Prue." Phoebe said. "She should be on guard. You ... try to relax. Spend a little time with the boys." She said gently.

I nodded, but didn't move as she walked out of the kitchen.

I was so ... confused. I have to admit, a part of me still thought Dan was involved somehow ... but it's a demon?

I don't care. I don't care who has her.

I just want my little girl home.

* * *

I woke with a start, looking into the darkness. I had actually slept.

Which just mad me feel guilty.

Beside me, Leo and the boys were sleeping, an uneasy look on Leo's face. He was having trouble sleeping too, huh?

Slipping out of bed, careful not to disturb them, I checked my watch. One in the morning.

I had spent the day with Leo and the boys - something that we didn't do as often as we should, what with the magic stuff, and the club, ect. But it was hollow to us - we were missing Patty. It just wasn't right.

The boys had fallen asleep at eight o' clock, and Leo and I had gone to bed at around nine. For me, it was simply because I knew nothing more could be done to find her that night, and tomorrow we could try again.

Eventually I made my way into the kitchen, wondering if Prue and Andy had actually come home. The first thing I saw were two coffee cups in the sink. Yep, they're home.

And then I saw Paige, a half-empty cup by her side, the book laying open on the table - and her slumped over it, asleep. She must have spent the whole night looking, as well as yesterday. Why, I did not know ... Phoebe had said she didn't see the demon's face ... we weren't likely to i.d it.

I took a step forward, and tried to see the page she was on.

"To call a lost witch ..." I murmured. I'd tried that spell, Paige knew it.

Wait, what's that? Something sticking out from under her arm.

I reached forward, carefully pulled it out, trying not to wake her. It's a notebook, one she got in a set off of Leo for Christmas last year. The paper was pale pink, decorated with tiny little hearts. On it, it looked like she'd started to create a spell ...

"Hear the words of the witches, the secrets hid in the night, draw strength from the power of four, strength from our entire line, bring back Patty. Bring her back, to us." Around it she'd scribbled "Blood" and "something of Patty's?" I bit my lip as I put it back down next to her. She was trying so hard to find her ... And she's pretty much alone.

I mean, Leo and I have each other. Prue has Andy, Phoebe has Cole. But Paige doesn't have anyone. She doesn't have anyone to turn to when we're not enough. Anyone whose arms she can cry in when it all gets too much.

Then I started thinking about that guy who called earlier. Henry, was it?

Maybe she should take the chance there. Love always happens when you least expect it, and maybe this is it. No one expects it.

And who knows? He could do her some good. She's becoming as obsessed with magic as Prue. She was even talking about quitting her job the other week. Before all of this.

I picked up the pen as the side, flipped over the page.

"Call Henry." I scrawled. "Go out. That's an order. Piper x."

Then I too ka couple of biscuits from the jar and went back to bed, feeling better than I had in a while.

Of course we'll find her. Of course we will.


	5. A Clue Along The Way

Chapter 5 - A Clue Along The Way

That didn't last long. When I woke up that morning, I was full of doubts.

Paige was the only one in the kitchen when I went down, and she narrowed her eyes at me. The notebook was still on the table, but it took me a minute to realise what she was thinking about.

"I mean it." I said breezily. "I want you to call him, and you know you want to."

She sighed. "This isn't the time."

"Exactly." I said softly. "Please, Paige, do this for me. And for her."

I wasn't really sure if there was any logic behind that, but eventually, she nodded.

"I'll text him." She said eventually. "But I'm not meeting up until she's back, until she's home."

"OK, agreed. Now, this spell of yours. It sounds pretty good." I said, indicating the notebook.

"I thought so too." She said nervously. "I was thinking we could try it later ...?" I nodded.

"As soon as Phoebe and Prue get up." I said, hardly daring to hope it would work ... "They're still home, right?"

"I think so, I haven't heard anyone leave." She replied, as Prue walked into the kitchen.

"Hi, Paige has a spell." I said quickly. Well, no point waiting around, is there?

"Um ... OK ... I think I heard Phoebe getting up ..." Prue said slowly, taking time to process the information this early on a morning, and before her coffee.

"Good." I said, turning and walking out.

I changed quickly, then shook Leo awake, and explained.

"You think it'll work?" He asked hopefully.

"I hope so." I said softly. "I don't know what I'll do if it doesn't."

He hugged me briefly, kissed my forehead.

"I hope so too." He whispered. I nodded.

"Keep the boys up here, where it's safe. We'll shout you if anything happens."

"OK. Good luck, and ... Be careful, OK?"

"I always am." I said with a forced smile.

"Hi, hey, Phoebe!" I called, seeing her and Cole walking past. "Paige has a spell that might work. You ready?"

"Ah - um - sure." She gave Cole a quick kiss. "Go wait with Leo." She told him. Reluctantly he did so, as Prue came out of her bedroom. I hadn't even seen her go back up.

"When did you -"

She smiled at me, and as she faded away, I realised - she'd astro-ed. I rolled my eyes as Andy walked out. He gave me a small smile.

"You wanna wait with Leo and Cole?" I asked, sure that Prue would have told him to stay up here.

"Uh - sure." He touched my arm and walked past.

Back in hallway, my sisters were ready, the dining table turned up for protection.

"You think it'll summon a demon?" I questioned.

"We don't know what it's going to do." Phoebe replied. "We just want to be safe." I nodded and ducked behind it.

"OK ..." Paige picked up Hugsy and placed him next to a fat white candle on the floor, which she then lit.

"You watch that, it's a fire-hazard." I told her. She rolled her eyes and reached for a waiting atheme. She gripped it in her palm, then dripped the blood onto the flame. Phoebe did the same, cringing a little, then passed it to Prue, who stabbed her index finger, her face set. As the crimson liquid hit the flame, she passed me the atheme. I dragged it across my palm, just under the spot where I had done four nights ago. I held my hand over the candle, willing it to work.

"_Hear the words of the witches, the secrets hid in the night, draw strength from the power of four, strength from out entire line, bring back Patty. Bring her back, to us_."

The flame on the candle flashed red and ...

And nothing.

Nothing happened.

"I'm sorry." Paige whispered. I shook my head.

"It's not your fault." I replied, looking at the candle. "Why - why did it -"

"I don't know." Paige shrugged.

"Something _must _have happened!" Prue cried. "The candle flashed - magic happened!"

The phrase that springs to mind?

Clutching at straws.

Sympathetically, Phoebe rubbed my arm - then jumped.

"See! It did do something." Prue said, but we ignored her, looking at Phoebe.

"Well?" I asked when she opened her eyes. She looked confused.

"I ... don't understand." She confessed.

"What did you see?" I asked again.

"You .. and Leo ... outside the school ... you banging on the door, and Mrs. Wilson answering."

"What? You saw ... you saw us finding out she was gone? What use is that?" I sighed. "Leo! You can come down. It's safe."

The lot of them orbed down - too lazy to take the stairs, obviously.

"What happened?" Leo asked.

"Nothing." I replied.

"No, Phoebe had a premonition." Prue argued. I rolled my eyes.

"Not a useful one!" I snapped. "No offence Pheebs." I added guiltily.

"None taken. I don't see what it means either ... but ..."

"She saw you and Piper outside the school. When you ... When you found out she was gone." Paige explained.

"It must mean something." Phoebe said. "They don't just happen for nothing. Piper, Leo, think back. Try to remember - there must be something."

Shooting her a look, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, ready to remember the moments I had been trying to forget ...

_"Hello?" I knocked on the door. "Hello?"_

_BANG BANG BANG._

_"Piper, stop it!" Leo hissed. I put my fist down. Finally, it clicked open._

_"Piper, what's wrong?" Ms. Wilson asked._

_"Where's Patty?" I asked, craning my neck to see past her._

_"Piper, Patty was picked up a few minutes ago." She said in concern._

_"Wh-what? By who?" _

_"Her uncle."_

_"What?" I looked at Leo. "Did you ask Cole or Andy -?"_

_He shook his head. I turned back to Ms. Wilson._

_"Which one? Did he say?"_

_"No ... He just asked for her and said he was her uncle, that it was OK by you. I wasn't going to let him, but Patty seemed to know him ..."_

I opened my eyes as realisation hit.

"She knows him." I said quietly. "She knows the guy that took her ..."


	6. Unknown Enemy

**It was only when I started to write this that I realised three years have past since Breakaway started. Strange. That means Dan has been in prison for three years too. Just thought I'd let you guys know, in case you hadn't realised.**

**Chapter 6 - Unknown Enemy**

They all looked at me in confusion, except Leo. He had obviously remembered the same as me. Although he couldn't possibly know who ...

But I do. And I don't know why I never thought of it before.

My only excuse is that I never thought he was capable of it ... or smart enough, actually. Which means he wasn't the brains behind it ...

No. But I know who is.

"Ms. Wilson said he asked for her said he was her uncle and I'd said it was OK." I recounted. "She said she wasn't going to let him, _but Patty seemed to know him_! Don't you get it? It was someone she knew, someone she trusted."

They looked at each other, considering it, as I tried to think.

"So ... it wasn't a demon?" Prue asked. I shook my head. I knew she had thought it was demonic all along.

"No. It can't have been." Leo said. He looked at me and I knew what he was thinking. I nodded.

"Dan has a brother." I said carefully. "Technically, Patty's _uncle. _Patty met him a few times, but she hadn't seen him for about a year before we left. He used to bring her sweets and stuff ... she liked him ... but he and Dan were close, and ... well, he'd have probably done this for him." I said, looking at Andy.

"His brother?" Andy asked. "Michael Gordon?"

I nodded.

"Dan must have been behind it, though. Michael doesn't have the brains. But Dan would have ..."

"He - Michael - He ... visited Dan ... several times." Andy said frowning. "In the first two years. But this year he stopped. Apparently they had an argument ..."

"Or staged one." I guessed. "So no one would make the connection. Dan couldn't have done from behind bars, and he'd have known Patty wouldn't just go with a stranger. That she trusted Michael." I bit my lip. "But know one would suspect either of them, because they hadn't seen each other for so long ... what about phone calls? Did he ever make any?"

Andy and Prue looked at each other.

"What?" I asked suspiciously. "What?"

"He tried to call you a few times ..." Andy said. "Tried to call here."

"I answered once, a long time ago." Prue said. "You were pregnant with Wyatt, I didn't want to worry you." If that's her excuse it's not good enough. I narrowed my eyes at her.

"I asked who it was when I thought I recognised the voice, and he laughed and told me." She continued, trying to aviod my gaze. "Said he wanted to talk to her, to Patty."

"She told me, and I put a stop to it." Andy continued. "Made sure he couldn't call this number, no matter how many times he tried."

"Did he try again?" Leo asked. Well, at least he didn't know. Don't think I could cope with him keeping things like that from me.

"Yes. A lot, about once a month. Each time he was told he wasn't allowed to speak to you. He stopped for the last six months, and then ... he tried again, a week before Patty was taken."

I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to fight the headache I was getting.

"OK, can you ... do something." I said, feeling betrayed, confused, scared and exited all at once.

How could he do this to me? After all this time?

Did it even make sense? Am I sure it's him?

Where is she ... is she hurt? Is she even still ...

Was I finally going to have my baby home?

"I'll call the station. Get Dan questioned, and try to find Michael Gordon." Andy said, pulling his phone out of his pocket, and turning away as he dialled and began to talk.

"Inspector Trudeau, don't talk, listen." I heard him say. I had to smile, despite everything else I was feeling. Who'd have thought that little boy who used to dress up as a cowboy, adn run around our house crying "Bang! Bang!" would grow up with that much authority?

"We'll scry for him." Prue said, grabbing Phoebe's hand and pulling her towards the stairs.

"Just put Morris on." I heard him sigh, then mutter something that sounded like "Rookie."

"Darryl, hi, can we do a system check on Michael Gordon? He might have Patty ... M - I - C - H - A - E - L ... G - O - R - D - O - N." Andy spelt his name slowly into the phone, filling me with dread and aprehension. "Last known address?" Andy asked quickly. "Right -"

"Nice spell." I smiled to Paige.

"Thanks. I just hope we'll get her back." She said nervously. I nodded.

Andy turned back to us, hanging up the phone.

"I've got officers going over to Michael's place as we speak." Andy said. "And Morris is personally questioning Dan."

"Thanks." I said. "For ... everything."

Andy shrugged modestly. "I guess ... this is almost like family, for me." He said.

"This is family for you." Paige said, looking at him as though he'd said something incredably stupid.

"Yeah. You've always been apart of this family, Andy, and you always will be." I nodded. He blushed a little - something I hadn't seen him do since he was fifteen and Phoebe caught him and Prue kissing.

Before much else could be said, Andy's mobile began beeping, and he snatched it up.

"Trudeau." He said into it. "What? What? OK ... Yeah, talk to the neighbours ... OK ... keep me posted." He looked back up at us, his face grave.

Uh-oh. Bad news.

"He's not there." Andy said tiredly. "The place is empty. Looks like he just packed a bag and left."

"When?" Paige frowned.

"I ... I don't know. They're asking the neighbours."

I sank onto the bottom step, put my head in my hands.

"Piper, they're going to find him." Leo said to me. I looked up.

"Can you sense her?" I asked desperately. He closed his eyes.

"I ... No." He said eventually.

"Why is that?" Paige asked. "I mean, mortals can't cloak her, can they? And he can't have taken her into the underworld ..."

"She might just be too far away." Leo sighed. "I ... felt like I could almost hear her ..." He admitted. "But I can't do anything ... to help her ..."

I looked at him and realised, he was hurting too. I'd been almost pushing him away, making no effort to comfort him, like he was with me. But he was suffering as well.

"I know." I whispered. "It's not your fault." He hugged me, and I hugged him back, held him, like he was holding me.

We broke apart as Andy's phone beeped again, watched as he listened, occasionally muttering "OK" and "Right".

Finally, he hung up and looked at us.

"The neighbours say he left the day before Patty went missing. Said something about a holiday."

"What does that mean?" Leo asked. "Can you find him?"

Andy shook his head.

"It means you better hope that scrying thing of yours can find him." He said quietly.

I turned, ran up the stairs.

Bursting into the attic, I ran to the table where Prue and Phoebe were still scrying. Paige explained while I took the crystal from Prue's hand and swung it energetically.

"Come on, come on." I muttered.

"Piper … we couldn't get anything." Phoebe said.

"But I'm her mother, I should be able to find her!" I cried, throwing the crystal down. "This isn't right, we should be able to find her, to bring her home!"

"I know, I know that it's not fair." Paige said. "But some things …"

"You have no control over." Phoebe supplied.

"We are doing everything we can to find her." Prue told me. "And we will carry on until she's home."

I nodded, leaned against the table, for fear of collapsing. As I did so, Phoebe's eyes widened, and she slowly raised her arm to point …

The crystal was rising, hovering in the air ...

* * *

**By the way, I haven't mentioned Michael in this or Breakaway, so you haven't heard of him. **


	7. The Power Of Four

Allie351 - I don't know if Dan had a sister on the show, but ... um ... this is AU so he has a brother too, lol.

x-xPersephone - I hate the Elders too ... watch this space ...

**Chapter 7 - The Power Of Four**

"How -" Paige breathed, entranced.

"The power of four." Leo said quickly. "It must be."

"You need to channel it." Cole added. "Focus all of your power on finding her."

"We have been!" I said, looking at the crystal, moving barely militmetres up ... then down ...

"No, _you _have." Andy said pointedly.

We looked at each other, confused.

"Prue, you were focusing on getting revenge on the person that did it." Andy explained, then looked at Leo, almost for reassurance he was right.

"Paige, you were trying to find who has her, more than finding her." Leo said thoughfully.

"And Phoebe just wanted to see where she was. You focussed on the premonitions." Cole added.

Prue rolled her eyes, Paige looked guilty and Phoebe sighed.

"Use the power of four." Leo said quickly, looking at the crystal, which was still hovering, almost completely still. His _Before it's too late _may have been silent but I heard it.

Prue grabbed my hand, as did Phoebe. Paige was on the other side of Phoebe.

Why does this feel familiar?

Careful, we'll start to think this is the answer to all our problems.

But if it gets Patty back ...

"With the power of four our spirits soar." We chanted. "With the power of four our spirits soar. With the power of four our spirits soar. With the power of four our spirits soar."

The crystal began to spin rapidly, so fast it began to blur. And then …

It dropped, balanced perfectly - something we had never seen before.

Our power's stronger than we give it credit for, obviously.

"She's in a motel on 16th Street." Prue announced, a little confused, leaning forward.

"Hey, hey, hey." Andy said, grabbing her arm. "You can't just go rushing over there. He might be dangerous, or armed." He shot me an apologetic look, trying to calm my stricken face.

"Besides, how are you going to explain how you know he's there?"

He flipped open his mobile, and told whoever answered to check all the motels in San Francisco.

"That'll take ages!" I cried.

Andy sighed. "There's one on 16th street. Check that first." He said down the phone. "He - we think he's been there before." He lied weirly, then hung up.

"OK, let's go!" I said.

"No." It wasn't Andy who spoke this time, but Leo. "You can't risk getting hurt."

"I'll go down there." Andy said. "Call you as soon as she's out."

"But -"

"You have the baby to think about." Prue said. I sighed.

"Call me as soon as you get her." I said eventually.

"Of course." He bolted down the stairs, and we went and sat in the living room, me clutching the house phone.

"Patty home?" Wyatt asked, after a long time of silence. We looked at each other.

"I hope so." I whispered.

"You know what I still don't get?" Paige asked suddenly. "If she's not that far from here, why couldn't we sense her?"

"And what about my premonition?" Phoebe asked. "The one with the demon."

"It doesn't make sense." Prue agreed.

"Maybe magic just got it's wires crossed." I shrugged.

Phoebe frowned, looking like she was about to say something - but the phone began to ring.

I snatched it up, fumbling with the buttons in my haste, and tried talking into it before I had it to my ear.

"Hello? Andy?" I said quickly.

"Yeah, it's me." His voice said. He sounded happy. Does that mean ...?

"Well?" I asked desperatly. After a moments silence, Prue suddenly dived forwards and hit the loudspeaker button. When Andy finally began to speak, his voice filled the room.

"Well, we spoke to the mangager, who said a man had checked in, with a small girl a few days ago, and they'd pretty much stayed in the room since." He told us.

I can hear something in the background ... an engine? Is he in a car?

"And?" Phoebe asked desperatly. I wish he'd get to the point.

"The ocupier or room 3B wouldn't open the door to us, so we broke it down ..." The noise stopped ... does that mean the car had stopped?

He's doing it on purpose. I'm going to strangle him, I really am.

Or blow him up. I'm not quite sure yet.

"And? Was she in there?" I begged.

"I think I better let someone else answer that." He said, his voice bursting with glee. I shot Prue a "what's he playing at?" look, and she shrugged.

"Andy - Andy tell me -" I said angrily ... but stopped as a very familiar voice echod around the room.

"Mummy?"

I screamed with pure happiness, as the room erupted in cheers, and sobs.

"Patty! Patty, it's mummy, are you OK?" I cried.

"I'm OK mummy." She said brightly. "Coming home."

Her voice, so familiar, yet almost new to me, so sweet, childish, happy.

At some points over the last few days, I'd been unsure if I'd ever hear it again ...

Tears rolled down my face, I clung to Leo, who also looked a little teary.

"I know you are, I'm coming to get you, right now!" I sobbed, standing up.

"OK." She said. I could hear Andy laughing happily in the background.

"We're coming to get you Patty, we're going to pick you up right now." Leo said.

"What?" She said, I think to someone in the background. "OK. Daddy, uncle Andy said for you to go to the police station." She said brightly. She'd wanted to go to the police station with Andy for ages. Wanted to see the "please-men".

"He said we'll meet you there." Patty added.

"Right, sure, we're gonna hang up now, OK?" I said. "See you really, really, soon. I love you."

"Love you too." She said. "Bye!"

She sounded so happy, how could she sound so happy?

"She doesn't understand." I said tearfully. "She doesn't it. She's _happy._"

"It'll take more than that to get her down, Pipe." Phoebe smiled. I nodded.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Prue said.

"Let's go!" Paige laughed.

Phoebe picked up Chris, Prue clutched Wyatt, and white lights surrounded us. I'm still not sure who actually orbed us, but we disolved into the tiny lights ...

* * *

**Pay attention to the stuff about not being able to sense her and stuff ... that's all I'm gonna say ...**


	8. In My Arms Again

**Chapter 8 - In My Arms Again**

We materialized in the car park of the station - thankfully it was empty.

"Do you think they're back yet?" Phoebe asked as we made our way quickly to the front door.

"Andy probably waited until they were in the car park before calling." Prue said, rolling her eyes. "Just so he could be there before us."

I didn't care. All that mattered was that I would be seeing her again, hugging her again ...

I'd have my baby back.

We burst through the front door, Leo and I ahead of everyone. We must have looked weird, such a huge group - six adults and two toddlers - but I didn't care.

I took two steps towards Andys desk - and out of a side room came a small, dark-haired cannon ball, flying towards us.

I turned, beaming, knelt down, Leo right beside me. Arms outstretched, it felt like she took an eternity to reach us.

So long I almost jumped up and ran to her ... but I was scared that if I moved I'd miss her somehow ...

Finally, she threw herself at us, wrapping her arms around mine and Leo's necks, so tightly I could hardly breath - but I pulled her closer, tears I hadn't realised were there soaking into her hair.

I didn't want to to let go, but I knew we couldn't stay there like that forever, and eventually I drew back, looking at her. The clothes she had been wearing that day were still on her, dirty, crumpled, but familiar. Her hair looked like it hadn't been washed or brushed since she'd been snatched, but it was still soft, still felt down her back.

She was the same as she'd always been.

Perfect.

"Thank you." I said, looking up at Andy. He smiled.

"Your welcome."

"Oh, and by the way, the next time you spend that long telling me something that important, I'll blow you up." I hissed. He looked at me, obviosuly unsure if I was joking or not.

I wasn't.

I struggled to stand up, and Leo lifted Patty up.

"What about Michael? Did you catch him?" Prue asked.

"Yeah. He's being quiestioned ... ah ... Dan admitted to it all." Andy told us.

"He did?" I asked in surprise.

"Yeah. Uh -" He looked at Darryl, who was stood next to him.

"He laughed." Darryl told us. "I asked him if he knew anything about Patty, and he laughed. Said of course he did. I think he knew we knew, and he ... I don't know ..."

"Wanted to take the credit?" I suggested weirly.

"Yes." Darryl nodded. "He admitted to it all, though. Said he arranged the whole thing ... Um ..." He looked back at Andy - as did the rest of us.

"When they searched his cell ... they found this ..." Andy reached onto his desk and held up a ... photo.

"What the ..." Prue muttered, Phoebe gave a little gasp, and Paige looked away in disgust.

It was of me and Patty, on her second birthday. But ... the top looked like it had been burnt ... all the way down to our necks ...

"He burnt their heads off?" Prue whispered. Andy nodded.

"He said he wanted ..." Darryl trailed off, then looked back at Andy.

"This double act thing is really cute, but can you just get to the point?" I snapped.

"Uh - ah - Dan said her wanted Michael to kill Patty, then you." Andy said quietly. "Michael wouldn't do it. He refused to." He added quickly. "He said he wouldn't hurt her - she's been checked over, she's fine." He added.

I nodded.

"Can we - can we go?" Leo asked.

"Yeah, sure. I need to tie a few things up here, but I'll be home soon." He told Prue.

"Thank you, for everything." I added. "And you, Darryl. Thank you."

They both smiled, as we turned away.

We got into the car park, and Patty looked around. Not seeing our car, a huge grin spread across her face.

"Clouds?" She said brightly. It's her way of asking to orb, and Leo beamed at her.

"Clouds." He nodded.

"Here." Paige handed me Chris and Wyatt grabbed my hand. Leo wrapped one arm around me, still holding Patty with the other, then white lights danced before my eyes.

Our family, back together.

The orbs cleared away to reveal we were back in the manor. Patty, a huge smile on her face, jumped down, and looked around.

"Home sweet home." She said, copying a film she had seen, in that cute was small kids do.

"I know what you mean." I murmered.

"Wyatt! Chris!" Patty cried suddenly, and hugged them both tightly.

"Patty, Patty, Patty." Wyatt beamed. Chris just gurgled. But it was a happy gurgle.

When the boys had finally let go of their sister, she ran to me. But not to hug me again, oh no.

"Haloo baby." She smiled. Before she was - before she went, she'd say good morning, good night, hello and goodbye to the baby before me.

"I forgot about you." She cooed. I rolled my eyes, then hugged her again. It was so good to have her home.

Everyone else thought so too. The orbs had barely disappeard before Patty was picked up and hugged by Prue, then Paige, then Phoebe and Cole, then Paige again, then Prue, then a big tangle of arms. She was thrown into the air and passed around so many times I'm surpirsed she didn't get travel sick. But she loved the attention, I suppose.

Eventually, she was put down, and I pulled her towards me, and we sat on the sofa. I had to ask. I don't want to spoil it, but I have to know.

"Piper." Leo warned. "Not now, leave it."

"No." I replied. "Honey," I said brightly to Patty. "Why don't you tell mummy what happened the other day? When uncle Michael picked you up?"

Her smile vanished.

"Am I in trouble?" She asked me, her eyes wide.

"No! No, no, mummy just wants to know where you went. Can you tell me?" I asked, in that fake-cheerful voice.

"He said you told him to pick me up." She mumbled. "And we went to hotel. He said you told him to take me there, but uncle Andy said you didn't." She sounded tearful, looked at the floor, and I felt guilty.

"No, I didn't say he could." I said gently. "But it's not your fault ..." I stopped, looking at Leo. How can I explain this?

Now I know why he wanted me to wait.

"Patty, do you remember before you met me?" Leo asked carefully. "You're ... old dad?"

Her face clouded over, her eyes almost seemed to darken.

"Well ... he wanted to hurt you and mummy ..." Leo said, sounding pained. "And he asked ... he asked his brother to take you away, to upset us."

She looked up at us tearfully. "Why?" She asked innocently.

"I don't know." Leo said quietly. "I don't know."


	9. Working Against Us

Chapter 9 - Working Against Us

"Come on then, Pat-a-cake." I said eventually. "What would like mummy to cook you?"

"Anything I want?" Patty asked.

"Anything you want." I nodded. A huge smile spread acroos her face.

"Chocolate cake!"

Well, I couldn't say no, could I? Espectially not when Wyatt - and Phoebe and Paige - started crying "Yeah! Cake!" Rolling my eyes agreed.

Then everone decided to help. The result?

A chocolate covered kitchen, chocolate covered people, one broken bowl and a very lopsided, huge cake, with various sized finger marks on it.

It tasted OK though. Actually, better than OK. Phoebe joked that the secret ingrediant was love. I'm not sure what it was, so maybe she was right.

It makes me smile just thinking about it. It was the most fun I'd had in a long time.

I looked over them, finally sleeping peacfully in our bed. The kids had barly been apart for the last few hours - Wyatt was reluctant to let go of Patty's arm - even now he was clinging to her pyjama sleeve. Chris, young as he is, also seemed happier with his sister there.

"Look like angels, when they're asleep, don't they?" Leo said quietly from behind me. A smile spread across my face as I turned around.

"Technically, the boys are part angel." I replied.

"Ah, but they're also part witch." He murmured. I rolled my eyes.

"I wouldn't care if they didn't have any powers at all." I said quietly. "As long as they're safe." He nodded.

I gave a little gasp, then smiled widly as Leo asked if I was OK, concerned.

"It kicked." I smiled. "The baby. It kicked."

"Really?" A smile spread across his face.

"There. Quick." I placed his hand on me, and he beamed as it kicked again.

At that moment I felt so complete.

"I'm just so gald we have her back. If anything happened to any of them -"

"I know. But we wont let it. I promise you." He clicked out the bedroom light, and with one last look at them, I pulled the door towards me, leaving a crack, just enough light filtering in to illuminate their faces.

Walking into the kitchen, his arms still around me, Paige looked up startled, and Phoebe looked slightly guilty.

"What?" I asked.

"We thought you'd gone to bed." Prue said.

"No. We put the kids to bed. Eight o' clock isn't usually our bedtime." I told her smiling. "What's going on?"

Paige gave a little sigh. That's when I saw the book.

"OK, well we didn't want to worry you, but we got thinking about when we were looking for Patty." Phoebe said gently. "Why Leo and Paige couldn't sense her, my premonition ... I mean, Michael isn't magical, he couldn't have cloaked her, or sent me a fake vision."

"So ... what, you think someone was helping him?"

"Maybe not helping him, formally." Prue answered. "But trying to ... make it harder for us?"

"Can any demons do that?" I asked.

"No." Cole said. "Upper level demons could send Phoebe her premonition, but they couldn't cloak Patty."

"And no one was working with Michael, no one was seen with him and he says no one was helping him." Andy told us.

"Not to his knowledge, maybe." Paige said. "When I was trying to sense her, it was like I could almost hear her, or I faintly heard her or something, but I couldn't zero in on it."

"I felt the same." Leo admitted. "That's why I though she was maybe just to far away. Usually I'd have been able to sense her though ..."

"Right, but she wasn't far away." Phoebe said pointedly. "Which means something was blocking you. Us."

"Do you think that's why scrying didn't work?" I asked, slipping into a chair at the table. Leo sat next to me.

"It could have been." Prue said thoughtfully. "Maybe someone didn't want it to work until it suited them?"

"Maybe someone just wanted us to use the power of four." Paige said suddenly.

"What?"

"Demon's couldn't cloak her. Only certain demons would be able to fake premonitions." Paige explained, leaning forward.

"Witches and whitelighters can cloak themselves and others, but they'd have had to be within contact distance of Patty - they'd need to touch her while reading the spell." She continued.

"Michael denies anyone went near her, Patty said she didn't see know one else." Paige finished triumphantly. I was trying to follow her train of thought, but I was lost.

"There's only one kind of magical being that would have been able to do that." Slowly, she swung the Book Of Shadows round so we could all see it - Leo and I from across the table, Prue and Andy by the coffee machine, Phoebe and Cole at the island.

I looked at the page in shock, taking in the image of several cloaked figures, and letting my eyes pass again and again over the word at the top of the page.

Paige looked around at us all, then said one word.

"Elders."

* * *

**Short chapter, but I can't be bothered writing more, lol. Maybe reviews will make me write more ... dum-da-dum-dum-dum ...**


	10. The Test

Chapter 10 - The Test

"The Elders?" I asked uncertainly. "Why would they -"

"I was hoping you could explain that?" Paige asked looking at Leo.

"I don't know why they'd do anything like that. They're the rulers of good magic ... Are you sure it's them?"

"They're the only ones who have the power to do that. It has to be them." Phoebe agreed.

"But -"

"Unless they know of anyone else who can do it, it's them." Prue said to Leo. After a few minutes she spoke again. "Uh - Leo?"

"Yeah?"

"Honey, she was asking you to go talk to them." I said.

"Oh. Oh, OK." He orbed out, and we looked at each other, laughing a little bit. Boy, it felt good to laugh again.

A few hours later we were still sat in the kitchen. Every now and then one of us would say something, or dish out fresh coffee, but mostly we sat in silence, checking our watches, or pulling the book towards us, re-reading the page on the Elders then pushing it away ...

Finally, I saw orbs out of the corner of my eye, I jumped up so fast I felt dizzy. Clutching the edge of the chair and hoping no one noticed me nearly fall, I looked at the orbs worriedly.

"Leo?"

Finally the orbs cleared away and he looked at us seriously.

"Well?" Prue asked. He gave a tiny nod.

"They admitted it." He told us quietly. "Said it was a ... a test."

"What!" I cried angrily. "What the hell does that mean!"

"They ... turned the situation to their advantage." Leo said flatly. "Wanted to test how strong your power is, how strong your bond is. They cloaked her, they sent that premonition. It was all them." He looked really weird, and I suddenly realised why. Gideon betrayed us, betrayed Leo, and now this. How could they keep putting him through this? The Gideon thing nearly pushed him over the edge ...

"Did we at least pass?" Phoebe joked.

"This isn't funny, Phoebe! What if -" I stopped my angry rant, realising I was shouting at the wrong people.

"Take me up there." I said, turning to Leo. "I want to talk to them."

"Shout at them more like." Andy muttered. True.

"Yeah, take us up there." Prue said.

I looked at her. "You don't have to -"

"We're in this together, Piper." Phoebe said. "This affects us too, this is family."

"Come on." Paige said, standing up. "You two, watch the kids." She said to Phoebe and Cole, then reached out and grabbed hold of Phoebe, who clung to Prue's arm, who grabbed me. I looked at Leo.

"Maybe you should stay down here. I don't want you getting in trouble." I said carefully.

"No. This involves me too. Patty's my ..." He trailed off uncertainly, as I realised what he was going to say.

"She's your daughter too." I finished for him. He's more of a father to her than Dan. I gripped his hand and we orbed.

"Leo! What do you mean by this!" An angry elder cried as we materialized. "You can't bring them up here."

"Actually, I brought them here. Leo just came along." Paige said. She was only half lying, really.

"You have no right to be up here -"

"I have every right to be up here." I snarled. "After what you did, I think you owe us an explanation."

"We didn't create this situation, we just ... added to it. It isn't our fault your daughter -"

"No, it's my fault." I said bitterly. "And I accept that. But it's your fault it took us so long!" I threw my hands up - and unintentionally blew up a nearby pillar.

"Careful, honey." Leo warned uneasily, gripping my wrists and gently forcing my arms back to my sides.

The Elder opened his mouth, but I cut in.

"Do you know what he was told to do? Michael? He was told to kill her. She could have died. And that would be your fault."

"We wouldn't have let him kill her -"

"The stress of it could have made me lose my baby." I continued. "Where would your precious power of four be then? Hmm? Patty dead, the baby dead?" This time my hands stayed still - Leo was still holding them - but another pillar exploded.

Do you blame me?

"They're would be more." He said flatly.

"So that makes it OK?" I raged. "They aren't just witches, charmed ones. They're people, _they are children_. And you know what, screw it. Screw you, and your charmed ones, your power of four. The next one - and this one." Three pillars exploded this time - several Elders ducked for cover.

He looked at me carefully. "You are rejecting your legacy? Your destiny?"

"Yeah. I don't need the power of four. You do. I just need my kids safe and healthy. And if you can't respect that, I can't respect _your _need for us. I quit." The other elders gasped. "The power of three will have to do."

"No it wont." Prue said quickly. I thought for a minute she'd forbid me to quit - I was ready to argue - but she shook her head and look the elder in the eye.

"I quit too." She said stonily.

"And me." Paige and Phoebe said in unison.

"See? That's family." I told the elders. "And that's way more important that any of this, than the Charmed Ones, magic, the greater good. The Power of Four ... is no more."

"Very well." The elder said to us. "As you wish it."

Before another word could be said - or another dirty look could be shot - I felt a weird pulling sensation, and a white orb shot out of me. Out of all of us. The empty feeling I know felt distracted me, until another one shot out of my stomach, and three more floated up from the floor.

"Wh -?"

"It is as you wished it. The Power of Four is no more. Your powers are gone."

I was shocked, but I couldn't let him see that. "Good. Stay away from me, stay away from my family." I turned towards Leo, and he orbed us all out, looking worried.

"What happened?" Andy asked anxiously.

"We gave up our powers." Prue replied tiredly. "We rejected the power of four."

"Guys, I'm sorry." I said quietly. "I know you loved being witches -" I did too actually.

"We love our niece more." Paige assured me. "We can live without magic."

I nodded and smiled, but I wasn't so sure ...


	11. Empty

Chapter 11 - Empty

I woke with a start, and for a moment wondered why I felt so weird. Morning sickness?

No. Powerless syndrome.

I felt ... empty. There's no other word for it. As if a part of me was gone.

I looked over this kids - all still sleeping. None of them look different. How am I going to explain to them why they don't have powers?

"Hi. How you feeling?" Phoebe asked when I got into the kitchen.

"Weird. Like there's something missing ... empty."

"I know. And eating doesn't get rid of it." She told me. I'm not sure if she's joking or not.

"I kinda figured it wouldn't, Pheebs." I smiled.

"How are the kids?"

"Sleeping. I don't know what to tell them." I sighed.

"Tell them the truth. You know, in a way kids can understand."

"Thanks for the help." I said, rolling my eyes. She just laughed.

"Do you think demons will still come after us?" I asked suddenly.

"I don't know ... they shouldn't, should they? I mean, the Elders wouldn't leave us powerless, with demons attacking, would they?"

"Well, I did kinda destroy the heavens." I said. "And I guess they haven't got any reason to keep us alive anymore. We're not ... the Charmed Ones any more."

"Mores the pity." A familiar voice said. We looked at each other and slowly turned around.

"Grams!" I cried.

We hugged her, as Prue and Paige stumbled into the room.

"Am I still asleep?" Paige yawned.

"Nope." I told her. "Why are you here, Grams?" I asked.

"I came to talk to you. _They _wont." So she's not a fan of the Elders to, huh? Is it just a Halliwell thing or a universal thing?

"About ...?" Prue prompted.

"About this. What you've done. What were you thinking?"

"We were thinking my daughter nearly died because of their stupidity, and complete disregard for anything other than their precious greater good." I snapped.

"Hey, hey, I understand that. When we heard - your mother and I - we were so mad. The others had to stop us going up there ourselves." She smiled. "But the Charmed Legacy ... it's your destiny. Look at all the good you've done - the good you're still supposed to do. You can't reject it!"

"We can, and we have." Paige informed her. "I'm sorry Grams, but we stand by it. It's the right thing to do."

"There's something else ..." Grams sighed.

"Care to share?" Prue asked her, sipping a cup of coffee. I didn't even notice her make it.

"We ... we're not sure if the Elders have cloaked you from demons." She sighed. "I mean, as far as their concerned, you're not their responsibility anymore. They don't owe you anything."

"They don't owe us anything? We saved their butts more than they've saved ours." Prue snorted.

"You mean we're still going to be attacked?" I gasped. "While we're defenceless ... while the _kids _are defenceless?"

"I don't know." Grams admitted. "But I wanted to warn you. I better go. Think about what I said. Think about your decision."

"There's nothing to think about." Phoebe said stubbornly as Grams faded away.

"Do you think we did the right thing?" I asked, turning to face them.

"Yes. I mean, I think so. I mean ..." Phoebe looked doubtful.

"It wasn't the wrong thing." Paige said quickly.

"But that wont protect us from demons." Prue sighed.

"Or the kids ... Do you think we can cloak ourselves? I mean, witches can do it, right."

"Yeah. I'll get the book." Paige left the room, and we sat at the kitchen table.

"What are going to do?" I asked them. "Magic is a part of us. Was a part of us." I corrected myself.

"So ... we try to get a life outside of magic. Do what we've been trying to do for the last three years." Paige said, walking back in. "Not that you guys have much else to get." She sighed.

"So call him." Phoebe said to her. "You know you're dying to." Paige rolled her eyes, sitting at the table next to Phoebe.

"Actually, Henry and I are going out on Friday night. Happy?"

"Very. You just better hope we're still alive then." I sighed. "Anyway ..." I looked at the book, and Paige opened it, to the middle ...

"Oh, my god." Phoebe gasped. The page was blank. Totally and completely.

"Wh-?" Frantically, we flipped through the pages - all empty.

"What are we gonna do?" I asked again.

"What can we do?" Prue muttered.

We looked at each other.

"Leo!"

* * *

"They just said it was your choice." Leo sighed half an hour later, after orbing back down from Elderland. "You chose it this way, and they can't do anything about it."

"They wont do anything about it." Prue corrected. "Are we at least hidden from demons?"

"No." He sighed.

"Can't they give us a spell to cloak ourselves?" Phoebe tried.

"No."

At that moment our worst fears came to pass - a demon shimmered in. The smirk on his face telling us he knew we couldn't stop him, and the fireball in his hand telling us he was gonna kill us.

Fabulous.


	12. Standing Alone

Chapter 12 - Standing Alone

Instinctively - or stupidly, whichever word you prefer - I tried to freeze him. Then someone, Leo, I think, pulled me to the ground as a fireball sped towards us.

This is bad. Very, very bad.

"What do we do!" Paige cried, as she dived under the table to avoid another fireball.

"We run." Prue said quickly, as Phoebe kicked the demon and sent him flying.

"Or we could orb." Leo scoffed.

"Oh. Right. Try that." Prue nodded, joining us under the table, pulling Phoebe down with her. Seconds later we were in the attic.

We could hear crashes and bangs downstairs ... and the fire alarm.

"Uh-oh." Phoebe muttered.

"Leo, get the kids and get out of here." I said quickly. He looked at me uncertainly.

"What if you need me -"

"We'll call you - You can still hear us, right?"

"Yeah - are you sure?"

"We can handle it. Please. Just get them out of here." I pleaded, as another crash sounded from downstairs.

"Go to the station." Prue said quickly. "Andy will let you hide out there, and demon's wont go there. They wont risk exposure."

Reluctantly he orbed out, and we looked at each other.

"Any ideas?" Phoebe asked.

"Without our powers we're helpless." Paige sighed.

"We need them." Prue admitted. "We need magic."

I nodded. "I can't wait to see the look on the Elders' faces." I sighed.

"Maybe we don't need their help." Phoebe said thoughtfully. "If we can remember the spell - the first one - we can get them back. We don't have to answer to _them_, just because we have magic."

"We can work independently." Paige agreed. "If we can convince them to let us stand alone, everyone's happy."

"The world still has the Charmed Ones, but the Elders can't interfere." I said thoughtfully. "OK ... do we remember the spell?"

We looked at each other.

"Hear the words of the witches ..." Phoebe said. "Then something about secrets ..."

"The secrets we hid in the night." I added.

"Something about gods ... invoked ..." Paige said, screwing her face up in concentration.

"The Oldest of Gods are invoked here." Prue recited. "I think."

Grabbing a pad of paper and a pen from the side, Phoebe scribbled it down.

"Uh ... The great work of magic ... is sought." Paige added.

"In the night, and in this hour ..." Prue murmured.

"We call upon the ancient power." Phoebe said, as she scribbled it down.

"Bring the power to we sisters four, we want the power, give us the power." I finished, smiling. "See, not to shabby.

"OK, I think we got it." Phoebe said, reading through the words she scrawled. "Ready?"

We nodded, then formed a circle, kinda, and held hands.

"Hear the words of the witches, the secrets we hid in the night." Prue said loudly.

"The Oldest of Gods are invoked here, the great work of magic is sought." I continued.

"In this night, and in this hour, we call upon the ancient power." Phoebe added excitedly.

"Bring the power to we sisters four." Paige said. "We want the power ..." Together, we finished the spell:

"_Give us the power_."

White lights hit us all, and I smiled as the empty feeling vanished.

"We're back." Phoebe said brightly. The next thing we knew, we were up in the heavens, but I knew Paige hadn't orbed us.

Turning slowly - seeing the blackened remains of the pillars I had destroyed the night before - We came face to face with an angry Elder.

"What do you mean by this?" He cried, spit flying from his mouth.

"Say it, don't spray it." Phoebe muttered. The childish phrase infuriated him even more.

"You reject the power of four, abandon your legacy, then think you can take it back when it suits you!"

"Only because you left us defenceless, then sent demons after us!" Prue yelled.

"The point remains -"

"The point remains that this is our life, our magic and our destiny. It has nothing to do with you." I snapped.

"We had an idea." Phoebe told him. "So shut up, and listen."

He looked taken aback, and for a moment I wondered if he'd hit her - Prue obviously felt the same as she moved closer to Phoebe - but he closed him mouth, folded his arms and leant back.

"I'm listening."

"We still want to have powers - not in the least to defend ourselves and our family - and we still want to help innocents. But we don't want to have anything to do with you." Phoebe told him.

"You don't control us, our magic, what innocents come to us." Paige said. "You stand back, let _us _be in control, and we'll do things our way."

"Let destiny take it's course." Prue added.

"You stay out of our lives, and we ..." I looked around, trying to hide a smile. "We'll stay out of yours."

"And away from your pillars." Phoebe added.

He looked at the other Elders. "One moment." He turned around swiftly, and went back to the other Elders.

They talked for a long time, and eventually turned to face us.

"Agreed."

"Great." Prue smiled. "Now, get us out of here." She said to Paige, who gladly obliged.

We orbed back into the kitchen, where I blew up the demon.

"Look at this mess!" I cried.

"Let the object of objection become but a dream, as I cause the scene to be unseen." Paige smiled. "It's a magical mess. No personal gain." She smiled. I rolled my eyes.

"Nice loophole." Phoebe smiled.

"Leo." I called, and he orbed in with the kids.

"Well?"

"We're back, and better than ever." I smiled.

* * *

Just in case anyone'sd wondering, the Elder they've been arguing with was the one that was really mean to Leo in season 7. Usless info for you there. Review! 


	13. One More Thing

Chapter 13 - One More Thing

I sat on the swing, and yawned again.

"Tired?" Leo asked. I rolled my eyes at the unnessisarity of the question, but nodded anyway.

"All the sleepless nights and early mornings lately." I told him. "The last few years have been one thing after another, and I guess it's taking it out of me."

"You make it sound so romantic." He joked.

"It was." I smiled. "Our whole ... relationship was."

"Was what?" Prue asked, walking over with Andy and a huge smile.

"Nothing." I replied, looking around the park. Paige and Henry were stood by the baby swings, pushing Chris gently, Phoebe and Cole were chasing Wyatt and Patty around, climbing over slides, roundabuts and the climbing frame in the process. Struggling to ignore the instint telling me to call out to them to be careful, I looked again at Prue.

"What you smiling about?" Come to think of it, Andy had a goofy grin on his face too.

"What's going on?" Leo asked.

"We kind of have some news." Prue admitted, looking at Andy. Ah, an eye conversation. I never quite managed to grasp the concept of them - I would simply stand there saying "What? What?" Loudly until the other person gave up and just said it.

Eventually, Prue turned back to us, and squeezing Andy's hand, called for the others to join us.

"What's up sis?" Paige asked, bouncing Chris a little bit.

"Paige, you might want to stop that," I chided predictably. "You don't want him to -" The way she rolled her eyes and changed the subject forced me to shut up - But isn't it my right to worry?

"Well?" Paige prompted.

"Andy and I ... Andy and I - We -" Prue smiled nervously.

"I asked her to marry me. She said yes." Andy explained.

"Wow! Congratulations!" A few minutes of hugging later, and Prue got that look again. The I-have-something-to-tell-you look.

"What else?" I asked.

"Nothing else. There's nothing else."

"Prue." I warned.

"OK, maybe there is one more thing." She admitted. Andy looked at her curiously. Damn, another eye conversation.

"Andy and I ... Andy and I are having a baby." She smiled eventually.

"What!" I cried, "I mean, congratulations! Again!" I added, jumping up and hugging her. An action that was made difficult by the five-month baby bump I am currently dragging around.

"Well done." Paige smiled, hugging her next.

"I'm really happy for you." Phoebe said brightly. "I know it's what you've always wanted."

"Yep, it is." Prue smiled.

"It's what we've both always wanted." Andy smiled.

"And - ah - how pregnant are you, exactly?" I asked. "Cos at this rate we're going to have to get some additions to the house -"

"We're staying in the manor?" Andy questioned. It sounded as though he wanted to move out, understandably, of course.

"Aren't we?" Prue asked. Yep, she wants to stay.

"I don't know ... do you want to?"

"I think it would be safer, for us and the baby, to be near my sisters." Prue said. Uh-oh. I sense an argument ...

"You know what, you guys have nine months to think about this." Phoebe quickly intervened.

"Ten months." I corrected, speaking from three experiances.

"Ah, actually, we have seven months to think about this." Prue grinned apologetically. "But we only found out a few days ago." She added quickly.

Doing a quick calculation, my eyes widened.

"But ... you'll have your baby two months after mine." I gaped. "That's not a lot of time Prue. I mean -"

"I know. We'll look into getting a couple of additions." Prue nodded.

"Nice 'n' stressful." I muttered.

* * *

"OK, mrs. Halliwell, if you'd like to lay down ..." Dr. Harris smiled. Nervously, I did so, and winced at the cold gel.

"OK ... OK ..." He muttered. I looked at Leo. What if something's wrong? He answered my silent question with a smile.

"There we have it." Dr. Harris smiled. "Right there - You see?" He gently touched the screen, pointing to the graining image.

"Is it OK?" I asked anxiously. "Any porblems?"

"Not that I can see. Try to relax." He said sympathetically.

A few minutes later, we were ready to leave.

"Oh, one more thing." Dr. Harris said suddenly. "Would you like to know the sex of the baby?"

"Yeah." I said. We'd decided last night we would if they asked. And they had.

"OK." Leo agreed.

"You're having a girl." He smiled.

* * *

"So, are you going to call her Melinda?" Phoebe asked, back at home once we'd told everyone.

"I ..." I looked at Leo. "I don't really want to." I admitted. It wasn't a name that stood out to me, just what was expected. We met Melinda, our anncester, and she was great but ...

"We could look at others." Leo agreed.

"Maybe you could bust out the family tree?" Paige suggested.

"Yeah, but not right now." I nodded. "I don't want to - you know - temp fate."

"Of course." Prue smiled.

As Andy's cell phone rang, we began to discuss the house again. But glancing up, and seeing Andy's worried face made us all stop.

"What? What's happened?" Prue asked.

"That was Darryl." He said, as though we would all instantly understand him.

"Saying?" Phoebe prompted.

"He's out." Andy said horsly. "Dan ... he's just ... vanished. There's no way he could get out ... but he has."


	14. A Magical Assistance?

Chapter 14 - A Magical Assistance?

"Wh - wh -"

"Piper, breath." Paige said quickly, grabbing hold of me.

"How did he get out!" Prue raged.

"I don't know. You have to understand, there was no way he could. But he's just vanished." Andy said pointedly.

"So ... what, you think magic is involved?" Phoebe asked.

"I think it could be." Andy admitted. "So does Darryl. I have to go down there, but you should check your book."

"I'll come too." Henry said. "I could talk to some people -" He and Andy kissed Paige and Prue goodbye, warned us to be careful, then left.

"Paige, call for the book." Prue said. Usually, we wouldn't use magic like that ... but I guess Prue thought it important.

"Maybe he's using guardians? We've faced them before." Paige stated, opening the book and flipping the pages.

"Or phantasms." Phoebe said.

"It could be anything." I sighed. "Why can't he just ... go away? He's always in our lives."

"Shh. Calm down." Leo warned. I sat down heavily.

"Go, to the kids." I told him. "Stay upstairs with them." He nodded, then left.

"OK, I'll scry." Phoebe said, walking towards the stairs.

"Take Piper." Prue commanded.

"Don't try to foist me off." I muttered. "I'm not the only one "with child"." I smiled.

"Exactly." Paige pulled the book away from our oldest sister, who sent the youngest evils as Phoebe and I made our way upstairs.

"Why can't he just leave us alone, Pheebs?" I sighed, after a few minutes of unsuccessful scrying.

"Honey, we dont know he'll come here. And if it's magical ... it's probably not even Dan's choice." Phoebe said gently.

"Yeah, but I bet he isn't fighting it too much." I grumbled. "I moved on, I was free, and he just keeps on -"

"Calm down. Breath. I feel your pain." She dropped the floaty-dreamy voice. "Really, I do. Can you ease it up a bit."

"Sorry." I smiled in spite of myself.

"I don't think we can find him." Phoebe sighed. "If he's being helped - or possessed - he'll probably be cloaked." I nodded.

"Maybe they found something." I suggested, reffering to our other sisters.

"Maybe." She was as hopeful as me, then. Not a whole hell of a lot.

"We've narrowed it down to three." Prue said, when we walked back down the stairs. "Phantasms, guardians, and these guys. Terrors. They possess a "victim"harboring a deep hate, or resentment or anger -"

"A negative emotion, basically." Paige cut in.

"Right. In this case Dan. Then they force the victim to act on the emotion - to terrorise, and ultimatly destroy the object of the emotion, in this case us."

"No. In this case me." I sighed.

"Right." Prue admitted. "So chances are it's these guys."

"Just because they're new and we never faced them before." Paige smiled.

"And there's a vanquishing spell." Prue added. "So it shouldn't be too bad."

"Yeah, right. Your not the one gonna be terrorised and destroyed." I muttered.

"Piper -"

"If you tel me to calm down Phoebe I will blow you up. I mean it. I almost miss 'relax'!"

She closed her mouth.

Good.

* * *

"We think we have it." Prue said as Phoebe and I went downstairs. "Terrors. They possess a 'victim' that's feeling deep hate, or something like that, and find the object of it's hate."

"In Dan's case, you." Paige told me.

"Then they cause the object as much pain and terror as possible, and ultimatly destroy it, and the person they've possesed."

"Great." I muttered.

"Wait,. it gets better." Paige said. "We can't get him here. They'll have him protected. So we just have to -"

"Wait for him to attack?"

"Exactly."

"Fabulous."

"As soon as he attacks, we'll cast the spell, get the little bugger out of him and hand him over to the police." Paige assured me.

"As soon as he attacks." Prue agreed.

I nodded. "I know."

But when exactly will that be?

Now, apparently.

The door flew open so hard it left a dint in the wall, and Dan stepped before us, his usally too-gelled hair flying around, his eyes blazing red.

"Oh. Oh, OK. The Spell." Prue said, pulling me towards the book.

"Evil being deals in pain, let the pain on you now rain, leave this human soul alone, find another one to roam."

"That's a vanquishing spell?" I asked.

Paige scanned the page, then her eyes widened.

"Uh - no - all it does is bring it out of Dan. There's no vanquishing spell!"

Meanwhile, Dan had turned red, and seemed to be in a lot of pain himself. After seveal minutes, a small black thing fell out of him, and Dan callasped. The black thing - a tennis ball with arms and legs - writhed in pain for a few seconds, then blinked at us with it's red eyes. It looked at me, and the next thing I knew it had lunged forward ... and buried itself inside my chest.

Uh-oh.


	15. Deep Hate

It's been a little wait, lol, I'm sorry. In my defence I couldn't upload documents yesturday. Anyway, on with the story ...

Chapter 15 - Deep Hate

My sisters' eyes widened with horror, as I felt my eyes burn. I didn't know for sure, but I was pretty certain they'd turned red.

"Piper ...?" Prue looked at me awkwardly and Paige quickly read the page through again.

I feel ... weird. Clouded, almost. Like I can't think straight.

A muffled groan shakes me from my thoughts and I turned to see Dan rolling over slowly.

_You hate him so, so much._

"What?" I said aloud.

_He nearly destroyed your life ... nearly destroyed you ..._

"Huh?"

"Piper?" Phoebe asked nervously.

_He needs to be punished._

"Yeah. He does." I muttered.

"Piper!" Paige cried. "Fight it! Fight it!"

"What?" Prue said quickly. "What's happening?"

"It's taking over her." Paige explained.

I walked slowly, deliberately, over to Dan. He looked up at me, and his face twisted into a smug smirk. He wasn't scared. Not of me.

_He should be ... you're powerful ... show him._

I booted him in the face. He howled in pain as his nose seemed to explode with blood.

"Not on the rug!" I cried angrily, kicking him over so he didn't make a mess. How inconsiderate is he?

_Remember what he put you through? Punish him._

"Yeah." I muttered.

"Fight it!" Paige yelled again. "Piper, ignore it. You destroy him, evil wins."

_But if you don't, he'll have got away with hurting you._

"I will NOT let him get away with it!" I yelled, kicking him again, and again.

_More, Piper, more. Use your powers._

I stopped. Use my powers? But that's wrong. I can't ...

_You can. For what he's done ..._

Yeah. But ...

_He'll be finally out of your life ..._

I threw my hands up ... and a huge patch of blood spread across his shirt.

"Piper!" Prue cried. "You tried to blow him up!"

"Yep. Why didn't it work?" I asked indignantly.

"You can't blow up a human!" Prue yelled at me.

"Sure I can!" I yelled back, turning towards her.

_She's always trying to control you ..._

"Yeah! Stop trying to control me!" I yelled at Prue.

"Piper -"

"Shut up!" I turned back to Dan, and raised my hands again.

_Go on, kill him. Do it._

"Mummy?" Patty's voice distracted me, and I turned to face her. "What are you doing?"

_Ignore her._

I turned back to Dan, raised my hands again.

"Piper, don't do this in front of her!" Phoebe cried. "Don't make her see this!"

I faltered, lowered my hands.

_Do it! Do it!_

"I can't." I whispered.

_Do it! Do it! DO IT! DO IT! DO IT!_

"No!"

I turned away, back to Patty, her eyes wide with fear, hugging a small bear to her chest.

And suddenly, the small black thing fell out of me, and rolled away, then a puff of smoke and he was gone.

"You did it." Paige gasped. "You vanquished it!" I rushed to Patty and picked her up.

"It's OK, you're OK." I muttered.

"How did she -?"

"She beat it." Paige said simply. A groan made me turn back to him. Blood was spreading rapidly across his shirt. What had I done?

"Oh, my god." I put Patty down, told her to go upstairs, then kneeled by Dan, who was unconscious by now.

"Leo!" I yelled. This was weird, I hated him so much, but I didn't want him to die, especially not by me. "Leo!" He orbed in, looking confused, then saw Dan.

"Heal him!" I cried.

"Heal -" Shooting me a weird look, he crouched next to me, held his hands over Dan. The blood vanished, but he didn't stir. Leo kept his hands there, still healing ... For ages. Too long.

"Leo? Leo, what's going on?" I asked quickly.

"I ... I think ..." He grabbed at Dan's wrist, held it for a few seconds, then dropped it. It fell heavily to the floor, and Leo shook his head.

"No, don't say it." I gasped. "Don't say I killed him, I can't have done - I can't have, Leo, please -"

"I'm ... sorry." He whispered, moving his hands away from Dan, and wrapping the around me. "I'm sorry."

I killed him. I killed Dan.


	16. The Amazing Power Of Guilt

Chapter 16 - The Amazing Power Of Guilt

"I killed him." I whispered, looking at his pale face, his blood stained shirt. "I killed him."

"It wasn't you, it was -" Phoebe started.

"It was me!" I yelled, then burst into tears.

"I'll call Andy." Prue muttered.

"Am I going to prison?" I asked, terrified.

"No, no, of course not. " Paige soothed. "Actually, what are supposed to say? That he turned up here and callapsed?"

"Yes." Phoebe sighed. "We'll have to. Besides, he wasn't stabbed, or shot ... how exactly did he die?"

"We'll find out when they do a post-mortem." Prue told us, dialling the phone.

"Or when they arrest us for murder!" I cried.

"Shh!" Prue commanded, pressing the phone to her ear and turning away.

"I killed him, Leo." I hissed. "I killed him."

"Shh. It's OK. It's OK."

"OK, Andy's on his way over. Try to pull it together." Prue commanded, hanging up.

"Pull it together!" I cried. "Pull it together! I killed him, Prue!"

"Shh." Better add that to the list of words I hate.

"Piper, come on, after what he did to you -"

"He deserved for me to kill him?" I finished. "No, he didn't!"

"Piper, we need to get the story straight." Phoebe said.

"The story?"

"OK, he turned up here, started shouting, then he just callapsed." Paige said. "OK?"

"Callapsed?" I questioned. "No, no, I killed him!" I stood up, agrily. "I murdered hi - arrghh." Clutching my stomach, I sat back down."

"Are you OK?" Suddenly everyone was flocking around me.

"I'm fine. Just ... stood up too fast." I replied, as Andy walked in, with Darryl, two other inspectors and a couple of forensic people.

"Are you OK?" Was the first thing Andy said to us, and he pulled me into a hug. "Maybe you should go rest or something. Both of you." He said with a look at Prue, who shook her head.

"OK, tell us what happened." Darryl said.

"Well, you know it was really weird." Prue said pointeedly. Darryl sighed.

"Of course. When is it ever normal with you girls." He muttered. "OK, tell me the story."

"He walked in, through the front door, started shouting -"

"We couldn't hear what he was saying properaly." Phoebe cut in.

"And then he just ... fell down. Callapsed. And didn't move. Leo checked for a pulse, then Prue called you." Paige finished.

Annoyed, I froze them all.

"I can't do this." I told my sisters. "I killed him!"

"Mum?" Patty was still here. I'd forgotten all about her. "What's going on?" She asked me.

"Nothing, sweetie. Don't worry. Just ... go check on your brothers for me OK? Go on, big girl, look after them -" She skipped back up the stairs.

"Piper, you can't tell them that. First of all how can you explain this?" Prue asked me.

"Second, you have a family here. Patty, and Wyatt, and Chris. You can't put them through that." Phoebe said.

"Come on, Piper, I know you know they are more important than him." Paige said to me.

With a sigh I unfroze the room.

"He just callapsed?" One of the other inspectors repeated. "Well, we'll take him off for a postmortem -"

I stopped listening at that point, I just stared at his body, which was being zipped up as we spoke.

_He hit me so hard I flew over the coffee table, landed in a terrified heap on the floor._

"_What out, bitch." He'd snarled, then stormed into the bedroom, leaving me in a sobbing mess. Why had he done that? Was it my fault, really?_

_He slapped me, hard across the face, then kneeded me in the stomach._

_"Dan please, the baby -"_

_"I don't care about the baby you stupid -" _

"_Dan please." I begged, as he raised his fist again. "Patty – what if she wakes up? You don't want to scare her, do you?"_

"_I don't care about her!" He yelled. "She's not even mine!"_

_"I wish she weren't!" I screamed_

_oooOooo_

"_Where have you been?" Dan says, narrowing his eyes as I walk in._

"_My sisters'. I told you this morning."_

"_No you didn't."_

"_I did. Why are you even home?"_

"_You didn't tell me." He said slowly, stepping forward. "And it's none of your business why I'm home."_

"_I'm sorry." I say desperately, but it does nothing. He steps forward and grabs my hair._

"_How dare you talk to me like that."_

"_I'm -"_

"_Liar!" He bellows, throwing me across the room. I hit my head on the wall and things go fuzzy._

"_Dan, please -"_

_He kicked my in the stomach, a feeling I'm used to, but it still knocks the breath out of me._

_Patty starts screaming, and with on last kick, he steps aside._

_I know the drill. Get the baby, get out of his sight._

_oooOooo_

_"Who was he?"_

"_W-who?" I asked._

"_You know who." He was still sat down. Maybe I had time to run for the door._

"_I really d-don't." I lied, taking a step backwards._

"_You're not going anywhere until you tell me who he was."_

"_He's – no one."_

"_So why did you get into his car?"_

_He was watching me?_

"_I – I was scared and upset." I said bitterly. "He was just being a friend. Being nice. See, unlike you, hes nice. He's human, you see." I spat. Probably not my brightest idea, but I couldn't help it._

"_Don't talk to me like that!" He yelled._

"_What so you like it when I sound scared and pathetic? You like knowing how terrified I am of you? Give you kicks does it?" I snapped._

_What is wrong with me?_

"_Don't talk to me like that!" He yelled again._

_Oops._

_He's up now, and suddenly I'm sent flying, and Patty rolls from my arms._

"_No!" I crawled towards her, my head pounding, stars sting in front of my eyes. "Patty." I gasped._

_She was screaming, but she was OK._

"_Look what you DID!" I screamed._

_He knelt down next to me, grabbed my hair and ragged my head back._

"_I'm going to make you wish you were never born." He said quietly._

"_I already do." I spat._

_oooOooo_

"_Pathetic." He muttered._

"_You're pathetic!" I screamed at him. I couldn't help it, I'm done playing the weak little housewife._

_He lunged at me, and I ducked out of the way._

_He changed direction, grabbed my hair again, then began kneeing me in the back, again, and again._

"_Dan, no!" I screamed as he through me on the floor._

"_Heeeeeeeellllllllllllllllllllllpppppppppppppppp!" I screamed._

"_Shut up!" He hit me again, and again._

_oooOooo_

"_They heard you and called the police. Why were you screaming!"_

"_Because you were beating me up!" I cried. "Like you do every night!"_

"_You -"_

"_You've kept me locked up in that room for three days because I spoke to another man! That's not normal Dan, it's wrong!"_

_He looked at me for ages, then ..._

"_Dan – put the knife down!" I screamed._

_oooOooo_

_A bang echoed through the house and I felt a sharp pain in my stomach._

_A window in the conservatory had shattered, and through it I could see Dan._

"_Surprise bitch." He mouthed. Something shiny glinted in the sun._

_I looked down, sudden realisation._

_Blood, blood is on my shirt._

_My hands are shaking._

"_Piper?" I fall into Prue's arms, shaking, pain, shock, whatever._

"_Piper!"_

"_P-Prue?" I gasp. "I - I've been shot."_

I shuddered. They were right. He wasn't innocent - he was barely human.

"OK, we'll be in touch." Darryl said. "Andy are you -"

"I think I should stay here."

"OK. Like I said, I'll be in touch."

"Are you OK?" Prue asked me again. I nodded.

"I'm fine. Really."

I just hope it's finally over. For good.


	17. No Worries

Chapter 17 - No Worries

"Heart attack." Andy said to me.

"What?"

"Heart attack."

"How ..."

"You must have brought it on when you blew him up." Leo shrugged. He looked back and Andy. "What does that mean?"

"It means you're in the clear. It's not suspicious, it's not a potential murder. Just a heart attack." He smiled. "Which means that we can get on with the future." He looked at me, then Prue.

"This wedding ..." I said. "When exactly -?"

"Actually, we were hoping ... well, we were thinking of having it here, we still have the licence from you and Leo. And we wanted to have it soon."

"How soon?" I asked her. Six months maybe? Would that be too soon for Prue? She likes to plan, and plan, and plan -

"Three months."

"_Six _months?" Phoebe said.

"No. Three months."

"Three months?" Paige questioned. "But ... but that's not like you."

"Yeah - what happened to planning? And not rushing into things?" I gaped.

"Piper, I want to get married while I can still fit into a dress." Prue said pointedly.

"But - but - I can't fit into a bridesmaid dress." I told her. She smiled.

"Tough."

"No fair. My wedding day, if I remember correctly, was nearly cancelled because a certain oldest sister decided to ride off into the sunset with a complete stranger." Prue shot Andy an embarrassed look.

"Yeah, but at the time, I had a lot of stuff going on, and you know, I was repressing it -"

"So can Leo and I ride off on a Harley?"

"No. Absolutely no way." Prue grinned.

------------------------------------

**Three months later**

"Ready?" Phoebe smiled at Prue, who nodded nervously, her cream dress stretched over a five-month bump.

"You know, it's OK, I can waddle down the isle." She sighed, viewing herself sideways in the mirror.

"You look great." I assured her. "Me however ..." I tugged at the blue spaghetti-strap dress. "Eight months pregnant and look and the dress she puts me in."

"OK, girls, lets get this show on the road." Mum said from the doorway. We smiled at her. She showed up about an hour ago.

"We're ready." I smiled, taking Patty's hand. Paige was holding Chris, and Phoebe had Wyatt's hand.

We walked down the stairs first, and stood by the side, offering Andy a smile each. He smiled nervously in return - the poor guy looked as though he was going to throw up.

There were only a few guests - Andy's family, Darryl, Shelia and their kids, Leo, Cole and Henry. Small, but that was the way Prue wanted it. She told me it didn't matter how many people were in the room, because the only person she'd see was Andy. I doubt it, but it was a sweet thing to say all the same.

Finally, music started, and Prue walked into the room, clinging Dad's arm. She smiled nervously around the room, then focussed her eyes on Andy, a full blown grin on her face.

They finally made it.

"Ow!" I gasped. Phoebe was the only person who heard me, thankfully.

"Are you OK?" She whispered. I nodded.

"Yeah. Probably just gas or something." I muttered.

The introductions began, then Prue was asked to recite her vows. She paused for a minute, and I wondered if she'd forgotten hers. But then she began to speak.

"Andy, it took us so long to get to this day, but it was worth it." She said, looking directly into his eyes. "I love you more every time I see you, and I know I'll never stop. Sometimes ... I wondered if our love was worth fighting for ... but it is. And I'm glad we never gave up. You have always been by my side, and on my side, through everything we've been through. Soul mates."

Andy smiled at her.

"Prue, I loved you for as long as I can remember, and I knew I'd never stop fighting for you. We've had our setbacks, our troubles, but now we can stand here, declare our love, and look to the future. To our future."

"Prue and Andy will now exchange rings as a token of their love."

Paige took Wyatt's hand and walked him forward, then put Chris down next to his brother, in front of Prue and Andy. Together, the boys held out a small white pillow, one Prue had had since she was a little girl. Two wedding rings were nestled on it.

Prue and Andy each took one, as I felt another wave of pain.

Familiar pain.

"Oh, no."

"What?" Phoebe whispered.

"Uh, nothing, nothing." I muttered. I could wait until the wedding was over, surly?

The two of them put the ring on the other's finger.

"I now pronounce you husband, and wife. You may now kiss the bride." They kissed - as I fell to the floor. I couldn't help it.

"Piper!" Paige cried, as Leo ran to my side. The guests turned away from the happy couple, and crowded around me, as Leo pulled me to my feet. I could see Prue and Andy hurrying towards us, and the guilt distracted me from another contraction.

"I'm sorry, Prue." I wailed. "I tried to ignore it until after the wedding, but she wont wait."

"Shh, it's OK." She laughed. "We're done, we made it. Come on." She and Leo pulled me towards the stairs.

"Uh - you might want to just go, and call later -" Andy was saying to his family and Darryl's.

"Right. Congratulations." Darryl clapped Andy on the shoulder.

"Hospital?" Prue asked Leo.

"No. There isn't enough time." I gasped.

"OK, we'll get you upstairs." Prue said. "Come on."

Laid on my bed, I was uncomfortably aware of the crowd in the room - Henry, Cole, Andy, Paige, Phoebe, Prue, Leo, Mum, Grams, Patty, Wyatt and Chris.

"Uh, why are so many people here?" I hissed to Leo. He half-laughed.

"You want me to get rid of them?"

"Well, it's kind of crowded, dontchathink?"

"Can we have a little privacy?" He said pointedly, and Cole, Henry, Andy, Mum and Grams left, leaving just Leo, my sisters, they kids and me as witnesses to the birth of our daughter.

"It's a girl." Paige said, wrapping her in a blanket. "No surprises this time." She said, throwing a look at Wyatt. I laughed, even though it was the last thing I felt like doing.

"Did you guys pick a name?" Prue asked, as Leo and I cuddled the new arrival.

"Yes ..." Leo said, looking at me. I nodded. "Cassandra Melinda."

"After our great-great-great-great-grandmother, and our great-great-great-great-great-grandmother. I think."

"It's beautiful." Paige nodded.

Patty climbed onto the bed, and peered down at her sister, as Prue called the rest of the family in and Paige and Phoebe lifted Wyatt and Chris onto the bed too.

"Cassandra Melinda." I heard Prue tell them.

"We're going to call her Cassie, for short, though." I told them.

They crowded round, and Leo and I exchanged smiles. Dan was gone, for good. He couldn't touch us again. We were finally, free.

**And there is the end. I know this means that you wont get to see anything off Cassie, or Prue's kid. But I was thinking about a short sequel, set a few years ahead, in which Patty asks Piper and Leo about her real dad. Still thinking about it though, it might never happen.**


End file.
